By Anita Dangazele
- Health workers are using their own phones and airtime to make emergency calls and contact patients’ families.
- Telkom has shut down all landlines to Eastern Cape health facilities over a massive unpaid R67-million bill.
Patients in the Eastern Cape are being left in the dark — and in danger — because the provincial department of health hasn’t paid Telkom.
With more than R67-million owed, Telkom has cut off all landlines to hospitals and clinics across the province since 11 March.
Department spokesperson Siyanda Manana confirmed the shutdown.
“The total owed to Telkom for all Eastern Cape health department facilities in the province is R67,337,991.96,” he said.
Manana said the department is now prioritising paying its debt in the new financial year.
In the meantime, doctors and nurses are being forced to use their own cellphones to do their work.
Health & Other Services Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (Hospersa) provincial secretary Dorothy Ndhlovu said the situation is desperate.
“Employees are using their own cellphones to enable connection between the facility and the outside world. In some instances, they run out of airtime as there is no reimbursement,” she said.
“Even if there are any emergencies that arise where there is a need to communicate with patients’ families, that cannot take place unless there is somebody who has a cellphone with airtime on that particular shift.”
She said all communication between facilities and the outside world has been delayed.
National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union regional secretary Samkelo Msila said the problem is affecting patients the most.
“It is a very big issue. For some outgoing communication, they use contract cellphones or emails,” he said.
“But people from poor communities need to be able to phone in their emergencies to a landline and that does not exist, so it is very serious.”
DA shadow MEC for Health Jane Cowley said she will lay a formal complaint with the Public Protector.
She wants Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka to investigate the department for financial mismanagement and failure to deliver basic services.
“Unless urgent action is taken, the Eastern Cape Department of Health’s failures will spiral further out of control. More medico-legal claims will follow. More people will suffer. More lives will be lost,” she said.
Pictured above: Eastern Cape department of health banner.
Image source: Eastern Cape department of health